We're new to real estate and would appreciate advice on our current home in Texas and our future place in Oregon.We love our house in Austin and aren't ready to sell, but as a long-term rental, it would yield (from what I understand) negative cash flow, covering principal and interest but not taxes and insurance.

In 1997, I don't fully understand why, the City of Denver paid the golf course owners $2mil to rezone this parcel as a "conservation easement" this was extremely restrictive zoning and meant it would essentially be destined to be a golf course for eternity 3.

You might want to double check he understands the scale of the project you're asking him to do. 

Here's a post I made on "non-conforming" vs "illegal/unpermitted", understand they are NOT the same thing.

I would agree if we were talking about financial statements, but as I understand it, we are talking about tax basis reports.For tax purposes, one can use a modified cash basis when filing.

The property will need to have a slight rehab to get it up to STR standards, but when complete it should easily be a $200k Gross booking revenue property.

You won't even try to understand it.   

This will help you understand your options and decide if it's the right time to hire a pro. 

This will give you a clear understanding of its rental potential and whether it’s worth it as an investment.

@Ethan Slater here's some info we hope you find useful:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?